Judge rules school finance system unconstitutional

Lauren McGaugh, Houston Chronicle

By Lauren McGaughy

Updated 3:22 pm, Thursday, August 28, 2014

Page 1 of 1

AUSTIN -- A judge on Thursday again declared Texas' school finance system unconstitutional, reaffirming his 2013 ruling that struck down the current mode of funding public education as inefficient and inadequate.

"The court finds that the Legislature has failed to meet its constitutional duty to suitably provide for Texas public schools because the school finance system is structured, operated and funded so that it cannot provide a constitutionally adequate education for all Texas schoolchildren," state District Judge John Dietz wrote in his ruling.

He also ruled the system "constitutionally inadequate" and "financially inefficient." Finally, he said it effectively imposes a state property tax in violation of the state Constitution.

Lauren Bean, a representative of Attorney General Greg Abbott, said the state would appeal, "just as it defends all laws enacted by the Legislature when they are challenged in court." Abbott is expected to ask to bypass an intermediate appeals court in favor of kicking the case up to the Texas Supreme Court.

The four plaintiff groups represent more than 600 school districts, including Houston ISD and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Harris County.

Many San Antonio-area districts also are parties to the suit, from Edgewood ISD, which lent its name to a group of low-income districts, to the property-wealthy Alamo Heights ISD.

The 400-page ruling issued Thursday was the latest salvo in nearly two years of litigation, and marked another major victory for the plaintiffs representing nearly three in four Texas schoolchildren. They challenged the adequacy and equality of the Texas' public education funding, suing the state after lawmakers cut $5.4 billion from the budget in 2011.

Eighteen months ago, Dietz ruled in their favor, saying the state's method of funding public schools was not only inefficient and inadequate, but also created an illegal statewide property tax. But after the state Legislature restored the majority of the cut funding and made changes to graduation and testing mandates during the 2013 session, Dietz reopened the case to consider this new evidence.

This second round added hundreds of additional hours of testimony and thousands of pages of documents to the already massive case file. A final decision was delayed earlier this summer, after Abbott unsuccessfully attempted to force Dietz's recusal.

The state's school finance system has been challenged in court six times since the mid-1980s.

David Thompson, who represented 84 school districts including Houston and Cy-Fair ISDs in the case, said the ruling puts the onus on policymakers to take another look at how and why the state funds public education.

"Since 2006, we have increased standards without regard to whether districts have the resources to meet them, all while adding hundreds of thousands of students who come to school with more needs and challenges," said Thompson. We respectfully believe that now is the time to begin to address the fundamental question over the resources that are needed to meet our state's high standards."

The ruling wasn't a victory for all the plaintiffs, however. Dietz denied declaratory relief for a group of charter schools that joined the suit, as well as a sixth group of so-called "efficiency interveners" pushing school vouchers and reforms to teacher tenure laws.

"It's the same news as his oral ruling in February 2013 so it hasn't changed despite the evidence from round two," said Tracy Young, vice president of public and governmental affairs for the Texas Charter Schools Association.

The Texas Democratic Party was quick to release a statement tying Dietz's decision to Abbott, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, as well as GOP lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick and Glenn Hagar, the GOP candidate for Texas comptroller.

"Republicans like Sens. Dan Patrick and Glenn Hegar have touted their education cuts as a victory, and Attorney General Greg Abbott defended those cuts in court," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said. "The decision today is clear: these cuts were bad for Texas students and our state."

David Hinojosa, Southwest Regional Counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, said the ruling was especially important for Texas' Spanish speaking students.

"This is a resounding victory for Texas public schools and schoolchildren, especially for the state's most at- risk and vulnerable children like economically disadvantaged and English language learner students," said Hinojosa, whose group represents five school districts representing low-income students. "Although low income students constitute the majority of public school students, clearly they constitute the minority when it comes to a political interest. And this judgment holds the states feet to the fire."